#4 – Ghoulies Go To College (1991)
It’s impossible for me to hate a film that has the following line of dialogue: “Open now the porcelain portal!” I just can’t. It’s not in my DNA. Continuing in the plus column, this third outing also contains genre veteran Kevin McCarthy as a diabolical college professor! Furthermore, this crotchety educator despises college fraternity culture so much that he intentionally conjures the little beasties to take out the local frat house!
A set-up like that is bound to dish out a lot of comedy and, luckily, Ghoulies III just goes for it. There is zero attempt here on the part of the cast, the writing, or director John Carl Buechler’s vision to take the premise at hand seriously. Ghoulies Goes To College is a full-blown comedic entry in the series and it proudly wears that label.
On the downside, I’ve never found this outing to be as funny or entertaining as others have. Sure, there’s a good amount to like within, but much of it falls flat for me. It also marks the first two that the ghoulies speak, which is a bit jarring at first. I can only imagine this was worked in as a way to further push the series towards the Gremlins/Critters end of the tiny creature swimming pool.
Ghoulies III is a cheap DTV sequel that lacks the zany punch of its predecessors, trading it for more traditional crude laughs. Still, you have to admire a film that’s centered around the premise of a teacher utilizing the powers of darkness to teach his more obnoxious and disrespectful students a lesson. It might be my least favorite in the franchise, but it’s still fairly enjoyable in its own way.
